David Carr? Yeah?

March 9, 2010

So the 49ers decided to get involved in the free-agency-without-a-cap-year-hoopla and signed……David Carr. The San Francisco 49ers, everybody:

The 49ers will have a new backup quarterback in 2010 with David Carr agreeing to terms Sunday for what is believed to be a two-year deal, according to a source close to the Carr family.

Forget that the secondary sucks and your already putrid offensive line has managed to get worse with the departure of average-at-best Tony Pashos. Let’s focus our efforts on a backup quarterback with the same flaws as our starting quarterback.

It’s just a little bit bizarre. David Carr’s not terrible or anything. He’s just a lot like Alex Smith. Disappointing #1 pick engineered to manage a deep-ball game but without the arm and too many errant throws to actually make it work. Effective at times in a pinch but has never proven to be able to play consistently well.

He’s redundant. Shaun Hill at least offered a change of pace from Smith. Hill, limited as he is, executes a productive enough short-range game. He should be the kind of quarterback Mike Singletary embraces, a workman who hands the ball off and can manage an offense when asked.

Redundancy

So, yeah, he’s just of no particular use. It’s curious that the 49ers front office would even bother to look into David Carr, let alone actually go out and sign him. Just when you think they might start making some sense they throw a head-scratcher at you. Not a difference maker, not necessary, just kind of spinning your wheels.

After a day of seemingly meaningless jousting, the 49ers and Carr agreed to a deal Sunday that dooms Shaun Hill but in no other way makes San Francisco materially better. Now that he’s signed, Carr becomes nothing more than the new Hill, only Alex Smith is an easier hurdle to clear than Eli Manning was for Carr last year.

I don’t really think fans should be mad over rising ticket prices like Ratto. I think the current regime has shown enough commitment to turning things around, and enough signs of hope now exist, that they can raise the prices some if they so choose. But I don’t understand such a move without merit.

And now that they have come to terms on a two-year deal with Carr, the 2002 No. 1 overall pick instantly becomes the flash point to larger questions: What are the 49ers doing at quarterback, and what makes them think Carr is a partial solution?

They can’t duck it: The 49ers have opened themselves to the scrutiny.

They’re the ones who lauded Hill’s leadership and game-management skills seven months ago, then declared that Smith was a natural long-term starter.

So what do they do? Woo and land Carr, who has all the tools but, so far, none of the NFL success or true grit.

Nobody seems to understand it. It’s pretty perplexing.

Photo by flickr user FLC and republished here under a Creative Commons license.